Cold hardiness

Future

2050

2100

These values are location-based: this location's current hardiness is the baseline, and the 2050 value is a projected future climate for this same location.

Now

Zone 6b

USDA

Published baseline for this location from 1991-2020.

Source: USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map 2023 (1991-2020 climatology) via ArcGIS FeatureServer

Marginal

2050

Zone 7a

Plotwright

Projected zone for this same location in 2050 (2041-2070) using SSP3-7.0 (regional rivalry).

Won't grow here

In plain terms: This location is in Zone 6b today. Its hardiness profile is cold winters, and coldest nights are typically around -3°F. By 2050, the projected hardiness zone is Zone 7a based on SSP3-7.0 (regional rivalry). That is a +0.5-zone shift from Zone 6b to Zone 7a by 2050.

⚠→✕

Marginal today, but likely out of range by 2050.

Heat tolerance

Future

2050

2100

Heat tolerance values are location-based too: heat days today are observed at this site, and the 2050 value projects this same location under a future climate.

Loading AHS heat-zone data for this location...

Where this plant fits

Suitable across 26 ecoregions — 11 climate-resilient through 2070 · 15 suited today. Best matches first.

Central Tallgrass prairie

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Central-Southern Cascades Forests

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Colorado Rockies forests

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Nebraska Sand Hills mixed grasslands

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Northeastern Coastal Forests

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Northeastern Hardwoods

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Northern Pacific Alaskan coastal forests

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Northern Tallgrass prairie

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Sierra Nevada forests

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South Central Rockies forests

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What it needs

Conditions

Light

Full sun / Part shade

Water

Moderate water

Spacing

300"

Habit

Small-to-medium deciduous tree with ascending branches, ferny pinnate leaves, flat creamy spring flower heads, and dense clusters of orange-red autumn berries

Care tips

•

Use rowan where its cold-, wind-, and altitude-hardiness is an asset — exposed, upland, or poor-acid-soil sites where most trees fail.

•

Plant it to feed birds: thrushes and waxwings strip the berries quickly, so enjoy the autumn display while it lasts.

•

Never eat the berries raw — cook them to break down the parasorbic acid before making rowan jelly.

Lifecycle

Planting

Plant in autumn or spring in full sun to part shade. Rowan is exceptionally adaptable — it tolerates cold, wind, high altitude, exposure, and poor acid soils that defeat most trees — but does best in moist, well-drained ground.

Transplanting

Move young container or bare-root stock while small; it establishes readily, including on exposed upland sites where few other trees take.

Early growth

Fast to establish for a tree. Water through the first couple of dry seasons, then it is largely self-reliant; flowering and fruiting begin young.

Maturity

Matures at roughly 25-50 feet tall and 20-30 feet wide with a rounded crown, carrying spring flowers and heavy autumn berry crops. Long-flowering and fruiting but relatively short-lived compared with oaks or beech.

Propagation

Grow from seed sown in autumn or cold-stratified before spring sowing; named forms are grafted or budded.

Pollination

Self-fertile

Insect-pollinated: the flat heads of small creamy flowers are freely visited by bees and hoverflies, which carry the pollen. Individual trees set good berry crops on their own, so a single rowan fruits reliably.

Plants don't grow alone

Nectar forage

Bee

European honeybee (Apis mellifera)

Honey bees work the flat heads of creamy spring flowers for nectar and pollen.

Nectar forage

Fly

Hover flies (flower flies) (Syrphidae)

The open, accessible flower heads are readily visited by hoverflies, which are among rowan's main pollinators.

Pollen forage

Bee

Mining bees (Andrena spp.)

Solitary mining bees plausibly forage pollen from the shallow, open spring flowers.

For people

Edible with preparation

Edible only with preparation. Raw berries contain parasorbic acid and cause stomach upset, but cooking breaks the parasorbic acid down — cooked berries make the classic tart rowan jelly, traditionally served with game. Do not eat the berries raw.

Climate notes

•

NC State / USDA hardiness zones 3a-6b; native across Europe and into northern Asia (POWO, Kew), where it tolerates high altitude and exposure better than almost any other tree.

•

RHS gives Sorbus aucuparia the Award of Garden Merit and rates it fully hardy (H7) — among the most cold- and exposure-hardy of all garden trees (RHS).

•

Cool-biased and unusually tolerant of cold, wind, altitude, and poor acid soils; it is a mountain tree at heart and is happiest in cooler summers rather than prolonged heat and drought.

•

The real siting note is its lifespan and berries, not toxicity to touch: rowan is relatively short-lived, and birds strip the berries fast — plant it for the wildlife rather than for a long-lasting fruit display, and remember the raw berries cause stomach upset.

In the designer

Growth over time

270-540" tall · 216-324" spread

Rounded mature crown approaching full size; rowan is relatively short-lived but earns its keep early.

Design roles: Focal point · Border · Pollinator

Seasonal interest

Spring

Summer

Fall

Winter

Filled = the plant has seasonal interest · ▾ now = your current season

Rowan

At a glance

Related products

Why it matters

Cold hardiness

Heat tolerance

Where this plant fits

What it needs

Lifecycle

Pollination

Plants don't grow alone

For people

Climate notes

In the designer

Seasonal interest

Sources & citations